By Courtney Dentch
The bus driver from Rochdale Village who struck 15 cars and injured nine people after suffering a seizure in April was in another accident last week, hitting a police car on the Van Wyck Expressway, the Queens district attorney said.
Kenneth Criss, 42, was driving a 1994 Mercury Cougar about 10:40 p.m. July 16 when he allegedly collided with the police car assigned to Highway Unit Three, causing more than $1,500 in damage, according to a criminal complaint from Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office.
Criss, of 163-49 130th Ave. in Rochdale Village, is accused of refusing to pull over when the officer turned his lights on and continued on for more than five miles with the cop behind him, only coming to a stop after hitting a van twice, the complaint said.
Criss was driving on the Van Wyck Expressway near Main Street in Briarwood when he allegedly struck the police car from behind “at a high rate of speed,” the complaint said. It was unclear how fast Criss was traveling.
After the collision, Criss is charged with leaving the scene and driving more than five miles as the police officer used lights, sirens and hand gestures to get Criss to pull over, the complaint said. Criss kept driving until he allegedly struck a 1989 Ford van twice — causing another $1,500 in damages — before stopping his car, the criminal complaint said. It was unclear where the van was located, but no injuries were reported.
Once Criss came to a halt, the officer, who was not identified, tried placing him under arrest, but the former bus driver allegedly resisted, refusing to be handcuffed and struggling with the officer, the complaint said. The officer was treated for back and neck injuries from the tussle, the complaint said.
Criss was arraigned last Thursday in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, and Judge Fernando Camacho revoked his license at the request of prosecutor Vincent Carroll, a spokesman for Brown said. Criss was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court July 31, the spokesman said.
Criss was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, assault, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest and reckless driving, the criminal complaint said.
In April Criss was driving a Green Bus line vehicle when he suffered a diabetic seizure and lost control of the bus on 150th Street in Jamaica. The bus rammed 15 cars and sent nine people to the hospital before stopping inside Baisley Pond Park. Criss was not charged in that accident.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
